


if it comes undone

by airblends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Sappy Shit, Swapping Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 17:39:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6088548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airblends/pseuds/airblends
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“Okay, but what do you think, how long can I wear this without having to wash it?” Takahiro holds up Issei’s crinkly volleyball uniform.</p>
  <p>“That sounds pretty gross, you know? Why wouldn’t you want to wash it?”</p>
  <p>“Because it’ll stop smelling like you,” Takahiro admits, biting his lip.</p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	if it comes undone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dogchasingcars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogchasingcars/gifts).



> I told myself I'd just write a short little drabble for the [cute headcanon](http://airblends.tumblr.com/post/139819830482/since-you-add-that-tag-at-the-end-i-have-a-tiny) you sent me on tumblr, but somehow it turned into this 2k words long sap fest? I'm not sorry at all.  
> I only really picked up on the uniform swapping part of it, but that's only because I already surpassed my word limit by like, 200% lmao. I hope you enjoy this little gift! <3
> 
> The title is from the song ["Up In The Stars" by Swimming With Dolphins](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM3TkclOknc)!

 

“Matsukawa-san, you really like wearing that shirt, don’t you?”

“Huh?” Issei looks away from his phone and down his front, letting his eyes linger on white and teal fabric, a large number 3 in the middle. A reflexive smile tugs on his lips when he looks up to meet his roommate’s curious eyes. “Yeah.”

“You used to play volleyball in high school, right? Your uniform?”

“Yes and no,” Issei says, smile widening. He smooths two fingers over the silky folds, enjoying the familiar texture.

“So it’s not yours? Whose is it?”

Issei leans back in his chair, sighing as a strong sense of longing begins to spread inside his chest. It always does, even after months of getting used to the miles between them. “Someone I hold very dear to my heart.”

“Ooh, sounds like _someone’s_ in love. Wanna tell me about it?”

Issei smiles at the suggestion, because this is one of his favorite stories to tell. “Sure,” he says easily, getting comfortable in his seat while he lets his mind wander back in time.

 

* * *

_Ten months earlier_

* * *

 

“Issei.”

Warm breaths of air puff out against Issei’s neck, sending chills down his spine. The mattress squeaks as Takahiro climbs onto the bed to press his chest flat against his back.

“You’re awfully quiet today,” he murmurs, fingers carding through Issei’s messy hair. He follows the line of his shoulders, feather light and soothing. “During practice too. Are you okay? Did I do something?”

Shaking his head, Issei smiles a little, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.  
Usually he’d turn around and kiss Takahiro, but this time he can’t. There is something he’s been keeping secret from him for some time, and for a good reason. Now that the end of their last school year draws close, Issei finds himself backed into a corner. He knows he won’t be able to avoid the topic for much longer.

They’re supposed to have it all figured out, after months of agonizing over which university to choose and brooding over the question whether they should be taking the academic route at all. Takahiro’s been dead set on a university in Osaka for a while now, and while Issei’s been harboring some concern that he might not be cut out for the college life himself, both of them took the entrance exam. He remembers Takahiro telling him it went well, but he also remembers the sinking feeling in his stomach at all the blank spaces on his own test papers.

Issei had known that his chances of getting in were slim, but as long as he hadn’t had a definite answer he could at least pretend things weren’t going to fall apart by the time March rolled around. However, evidence came to him one morning earlier this week, in the form of a clean white envelope and a polite rejection. He hasn’t had the courage to tell Takahiro because he doesn’t know how he’ll react. This could go several ways, but in the end one thing is certain — Takahiro’s going to look at him, and Issei is going to see disappointment in his eyes.

“Issei? Hey,” Takahiro’s voice brings him bck to the present, a place he’d rather not be right now.

“You wanna go out for dinner?” Issei asks by way of distraction, minding his nervous tic of jiggling his leg.

Takahiro sighs, “You’re not going to shut me out again, are you? What’s wrong?”

Like sand running through his fingers, Issei feels the warmth drain from his hands. He doesn’t know how he’ll go about this — there’s no guide on saving something you’ve already lost.

Absentmindedly, he lifts an arm to stroke along the back of Takahiro’s hand, only to find that it’s just as cold as his own. This knowledge settles in his chest like a rock as he takes a few deep breaths to chase the anxiety from his system.

“Have you … have you gotten your results from the entrance exam?” Issei asks, trying to maintain an air of calmness. He suspects he might not be doing a very good job.

“Hm? Oh!” Takahiro’s voice lights up with excitement, and then the warmth against Issei’s back is gone as he hops off the bed and strides over to his desk to grab a sheet of paper. He’s back with a hearty bounce, throwing himself on the bed in front of Issei. Lying on his back, he waves the paper around in front of his face, a grin on his lips. Issei doesn’t have to read the letter to know what it says, but he does anyway, skimming the lines quickly before handing it back to his boyfriend.

“That’s great,” he forces himself to say, “I knew you’d get in.”

The smile disappears from Takahiro’s face. He sits up and fixes Issei with a stern look. “You didn’t really mean that, right? I know your guilty face, Issei,” Takahiro says, and his hands come up to rest on his shoulders. Issei’s chest tightens as he counts the seconds before Takahiro asks the question he so desperately wanted to avoid.

“Did you get a response?” Takahiro’s lips form a thin line, like he already knows what’s about to come.

Issei stares at his own hands where they’re folded uselessly in his lap, wishing for a way to turn back time and make things right. The skin over his knuckles is dry and cracked, and it feels like a sin when soft, gentle fingers cover them, accompanied by a softer voice. “Hey.”

Issei makes the mistake of lifting his head and meeting Takahiro’s gray eyes in the twilight of his room. There’s no way he can make up an excuse when those eyes are staring him down and taking the air out of his sails. He’s got nowhere to run now.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, “I didn’t make it. I meant to tell you earlier. I’m really sorry, Hiro.”

Takahiro blinks slowly, but he keeps his expression neutral. His thumb strokes little circles into Issei’s chapped skin. “What are you sorry for?”

_Why isn’t he getting mad? This was the only plan we had, I’ve only applied to this one university and I screwed it all up!_

“For ruining everything?” Issei grits out, “This was supposed to be our thing — graduate high school, move into our own apartment, have lots of messy sex on every vaguely horizontal surface, fall asleep in the same bed every night, go to the same university and graduate from that too, get married in Vegas like a couple of idiots—” Issei’s voice breaks and his vision goes blurry as tears threaten to spill from his eyes. His throat closes up around more garbled words. “I ruined all— fuck— I’ve ruined all of that, I’m so—”

Takahiro doesn’t say anything at first, instead he climbs into Issei’s lap and wraps his arms around him, holding him close, and all Issei can think is _I don’t deserve him._

He’s about to voice this thought, but a pair of lips take the words out of his mouth as Takahiro kisses him, gentle but firm, and so familiar it makes Issei’s heart ache. It doesn’t feel like a real kiss, rather, it feels like he’s reliving a memory from the past as a spectator from the outside.

“Idiot,” Takahiro says once he’s pulled back, and Issei realizes with a little bit of a shock that he’s tearing up too. “Did you think I wasn’t expecting that? I know you’re bad with exams, and I know you hated studying for that one, and I know you weren’t sure if you really wanted this, but did you really think I was going to hate you or want to break up with you because you failed that stupid exam? I _love_ you. And that’s not going to change.”

“But what about—“

“We’re going to make it work somehow, I promise. We’ll figure something out.” Takahiro snuffles, running the back of his hand along his nose.

“You’re so gross,” Issei says, his voice still rough and squeaky with unshed tears.

“Fuck you, Issei.”

“Ah, I’m gonna miss that for sure.”

“Let me rephrase that. Fuck _yourself_.”

“Why do I let you sleep in my bed again?”

“Come here, you asshole,” Takahiro says and pulls Issei in for a tight hug. He lets his heart beat against his chest until their breathing falls into a twin rhythm. Warmth returns to Issei’s body like spring chasing away the last remnants of snow to make room for new life. He breathes in Takahiro’s scent, feels his skin warm against his fingers. This isn’t the end.

“I love you,” he says against Takahiro’s neck, followed by a kiss. _I trust you._

“I know, that’s why everything’s going to work out,” Takahiro reassures him. “No matter where you are, I’ll be there to keep your lazy ass in check. And now give me a real kiss.”

Issei lets out a little laugh, but he complies gladly. With his hands on Takahiro’s waist, he teases his lips open with playful kisses, smiling at the breathy sigh that tumbles from his mouth, and slowly guides him back until they’re lying on the bed. His stomach twists as he thinks of all the nights they could’ve spent in a shared apartment, but a gentle nudge against his shoulder shoos the unwanted thoughts away.

“Stay with me tonight?” Takahiro mumbles against Issei’s lips, and his answer is clear when Issei cups his face and kisses him until they both run out of breath.

* * *

 

“Okay, but what do you think, how long can I wear this without having to wash it?” Takahiro holds up Issei’s crinkly volleyball uniform.

“That sounds pretty gross, you know? Why wouldn’t you want to wash it?”

“Because it’ll stop smelling like you,” Takahiro admits, biting his lip.

Issei feels the need to scoop Takahiro up and throw him onto the bed, but that might land them at the hospital, actually. Currently, his room is a mess of half-packed suitcases and random items strewn across the floor, making for great tripping hazard. “I swear,” Issei says a little breathlessly, “if you spout sappy shit like that while you’re in Osaka, don’t get surprised if I take a night train there to climb through your window.”

“A night train from Sendai to Osaka,” Takahiro laughs, punching his shoulder. “How romantic.”

“It’s not gonna be the same with you in Osaka and me here. Maybe I should have tried to get a job somewhere closer to you, so I could show you romance from up close.”

Takahiro smirks. “But think of all the _amazing_ phone sex we can have.”

“It’s a miracle that you were the one who suggested swapping our uniforms, really. I haven’t met a man more unromantic in my life.”

“Don’t you think we balance each other out very well?” Takahiro gives him a toothy grin.

“Fuck, I’m gonna miss you so much,” Issei blurts out, cheeks reddening.

Takahiro grabs his own uniform shirt and forces it over Issei’s head, completely ignoring the way it doesn’t even begin to fit over his sweatshirt. “There,” he announces, “now you’ll never have to miss me!”

“This stinks,” Issei says, not meaning it at all.

“Love you too.”

“I love you more.”

“Oh shut up.”

“That’s not what you said last night.”

“Issei.”

“Alright alright,” Issei gives in, yanking the shirt off again to fold it. Into his suitcase it goes, and he makes a mental note to not wash it ever.

Outside, a mix of rain and sunshine conjures up a rainbow against the gray-blue sky. A typical April midday, the day before the start of a life so different from the one Issei had envisioned a few months back, but a life he looks forward to nonetheless. It’s exciting, a little scary too, but he knows that somehow they’ll both do just fine. It’s not going to be easy, but he’s confident that their relationship can weather any distance.

Issei smiles at Takahiro from the window, and the smile he receives in return rivals the brightness of the sun.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Cries on you all for the amazing feedback I've gotten on my previous works,, I'm so grateful for every single comment and kudos. (Also please forgive me, I'm horrible at replying to comments, even though I read them all and squeal over each of them. I promise I'll get around to it soon. :)) Feel free to talk to me about anything on [tumblr](http://airblends.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/yamaguchitxt)! See you soon!


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